1st day out at the "races"

[Bolerus]

ok, as mentioned here are a couple from today, severely lacking, but I can either delete them and say "oh well they were pants" or I can post them here and hopefully somebody will give me a few tips as to where I went wrong

Number 1 (this team is actualy a friend, and the reason we went to the event)

Details
Mode S-Shutter priority
Aperature f4.0
Shutter speed 1/80th
exposure compensation -0.7
iso 100
focal length 38mm (digital 1.0)
flash off
macro off

Number 2

Mode S-Shutter priority
Aperature f4.0
Shutter speed 1/80th
exposure compensation 0.0
iso 100
focal length 38mm (digital 1.0)
flash off
macro off

Number 3

Mode S-Shutter priority
Aperature f3.5
Shutter speed 1/250th (sorry i put 125 for some reason)
exposure compensation -0.7
iso 100
focal length 38mm (digital 1.0)
flash off
macro off

(how could I have stopped the overr exposed sign on the right)
(the mobile phone sticking up was my son /sigh no time to shout move your hand and wait for the teenage, what, and then hit the shutter)


Number 4

Mode S-Shutter priority
Aperature f2.8
Shutter speed 1/500th
exposure compensation -0.7
iso 100
focal length 38mm (digital 1.0)
flash off
macro off



number 5

Mode S-Shutter priority
Aperature f2.8
Shutter speed 1/160th
exposure compensation 0.0
iso 100
focal length 38mm (digital 1.0)
flash off
macro off

 

[Bolerus]

number 6

Mode S-Shutter priority
Aperature f3,2
Shutter speed 1/100th
exposure compensation -0.7
iso 100
focal length 38mm (digital 1.0)
flash off



and just one of one coming down the hill towards us
(have cropped this one)

Mode S-Shutter priority
Aperature f5.6
Shutter speed 1/160th
exposure compensation -0.7
iso 100
focal length 380mm (digital 1.0)
flash off
macro off

 

[themask70]

Hmmm.... Well to be honest to me they all look quite naff, apart from the second one. You seemed to of captured the right point in focus, your eye is drawn to the right place. But will all the rest your eye is drawn to the wrong place. I really only have 2 tips for you, 1) Practise, practise and more practise! 2) Think about investing in an SLR as the quality lets these photos down a bit.

 

[Joe T]

I will give you some proper critique in the morning, as its late and I'm going to bed!

 

[Bolerus]

I was disapointed in the positioning to be honest, I wanted to be 10 foot further away so i could have some choice in angles etc, but had to make do with what i had.

please remember I am a total beginner and do not claim any ability (hopefully with time that will do)

I know they are awfull, but i thought if i put them here i might get some hints rather than thinking "they dont deserve memmory card space, delete all"


there were lots others, I didnt just select the best and put them on here, just tried to put a few on that were a varied selection if you knwo what i mean

my favourite i think was the batmobile one, but he had "broken down" so was actually being pushed, so no motion blur to catch lol

 

[Joe T]

Some rough critique as promised:

No. 1

The shutter speed was too low on this one I think, as he subject is blurred.

No. 2

This is the best of the bunch, as the people are sharp which makes a good focal point. However, you have zoomed in too far, and thus cut off some of the subject.

No. 3

This one isnt bad, but suffers from being too close again, and from the vehicle moving away not otwards the camera.

No. 4

This one isnt bad, but again you are too close to the subject.

No. 5

As you say, there is no motion blur on this one. Also you have cut off the front of the vehicle.

No. 6

The subject is too blurred in this one- possibly as a result of the fairly slow shutter speed.

The last one

This shot doesnt really have any impact I'm afraid.

Some tips:

1. Ensure your shutter speed is approriate for the speed of the subject and the distance it is from you

2. Try to ensure that you fit the entire vehcile in, or maybe just focus on one small part of the vehicle.

3. See if you can get down lower, so that you have more of a side-on view of the subject.

4. Keep practicing mate!

Hope this helps a little





I think standing so close to the track made life difficult for you, but under the circumstances there isnt any other way.

 

[Bolerus]

they werent zoomed in at all, as i said in my post that was the only place I could get, the only one that was zoomed on was the last one.

couldnt get any lower either because of the hay bails fence.

It was a decent event but really wasnt set up for people to be able to photograph the karts.

In hindsight, I went to the wrong side of the track, If I had gone to the other side, I may have been able to get the karts as they were coming towards us, but close enough to get movement.

I could have got lots like last one, but that was just too far away, once they got close they were out of sight untill they were besides me.


I find selecting shutter speed / aperature really dificult, but I guess that comes with time and practice

thanks for the pointers, given me some more things to think about, if I get an oprotunity like that one again

 

[Psilonaught]

I find selecting shutter speed / aperature really dificult, but I guess that comes with time and practice

thanks for the pointers, given me some more things to think about, if I get an oprotunity like that one again

Sounds like you are shooting in full manual by this comment, and could explain the poor shots.

As a tip, assuming decent lighting, for zoom/sports work, set the dial to shutter priority and dial in a shutter speed that's slightly higher than your focal length, and let the camera sort out the appeture. If you can't set a high enough shutter you need to increase the ISO.

 

[Bolerus]

They were in shutter priority, as to the rest of the post.

HUH?


"dial in a shutter speed that's slightly higher than your focal length"


what does that mean?

do you mean if i am at no extra zoomed in magnification (38mm) i should set the shutter speed to slightly over 38?

 

[Jotun]

"dial in a shutter speed that's slightly higher than your focal length"


what does that mean?

do you mean if i am at no extra zoomed in magnification (38mm) i should set the shutter speed to slightly over 38?

Yup, I believe he does mean that, it gives you a pretty good idea of what shutter speed you can go down to without noticeable camera shake. Eg, if you're shooting at 380mm, then you want to have a shutter speed shorter than 1/380th of a second - probabaly 1/500th depending on your cameras settings, although if your camera has it you may be able to get away with 1/350th of a second. Any slower and the pictures will start to become blurred. This is assuming the camera isn't bouncing around everywhere, and is actualy being held fairly still.

Of course if you're trying to do panning to get the background blurred then you may want a slightly slower shutter speed, but it is something I've not tried.

Although it appears some of your pictures are blurred when you have used a fast enough shutter speed, so it might be for another reason than the shutter speed.

 

[Bolerus]

well the guy on the other thread said to start at 1/250 and move down.

Yeah, I should have mentioned to start reducing the shutter speed as you get familiar with the technique. You should be able to reliably pan at 1/125s after a short while, if you can get down to 1/60 you're doing well.

so i was tryiing to see how slow a shutter speed i could get

I think from the ones i posted here and the ones i didnt, I seem to be able to get them at 250 and 160, but not much lower with out blur (dependant on the speed of the oncoming "vehicle" ) but not at 1/80th or lower

thanks again, i might just go find a stretch of roads where cars are driving past at speed and practise lol

 

[Joe T]

I think from the ones i posted here and the ones i didnt, I seem to be able to get them at 250 and 160, but not much lower with out blur (dependant on the speed of the oncoming "vehicle" ) but not at 1/80th or lower

Sounds about right tbh.